The present invention relates to seat covers in general, and more particularly to a seat cover which is especially suited for use on car seats, such as bucket seats, or the like.
Experience with conventional seats, especially with car seats, has shown that, if a person has to sit on them for extended periods of time without being able to get up from time to time, sitting on such seats brings a certain degree of discomfort to such a person. Many attempts have previously been made to make seats more comfortable than before, by profiling the seats, providing them with paddings of different consistencies and shapes, by selecting the materials of the upholstery and, last but not least, by designing various covers or cushions or similar buffers which can be placed on the seat and even customized to the particular person. Various approaches to making seats, especially car seats, comfortable to the users thereof are shown, for instance, in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,093,407, 3,099,483, 3,819,232, 4,019,776, and 4,108,776.
However, no matter how the problem of long-time discomfort is approached in the conventional solutions, the end result in each instance is only minimization of the discomfort, that is, extension of the time period during which the user of the seat will not be unduly burdened while using the seat. Once the seat and/or the cover, cushion or other bolster is properly shaped, the main cause of the discomfort is avoided. However, there remain several other causes which cannot be removed by changing the shape and/or the softness of the seat or bolster. So, for instance, prolonged sitting on a seat interferes with the circulation of blood through the tissues of the body of the user which are proximate to the seat; the temperature of such tissues may rise because of lack of circulation of air around the skin at their region; and the sensitivity of such tissues may be affected due to the pressure applied thereto.
The problem of lack of air circulation around the skin can be alleviated by making the seat permeable to air and/or by providing the same with passages for the air, such as by quilting. However, these approaches usually not only do not deal with the other above-mentioned problems, but even aggravate the same, especially since they result in an unequal distribution of the body weight of the seat user over the area of juxtaposition with the seat.
It is also already known to use various materials for seats themselves or for seat covers, cushions or the like. Such conventionally used materials may include various fabrics, natural or imitation animal skins, hides or furs, or vinyl or similar synthetic plastic materials. While each of such materials has its advantages, no ideal use for them has been yet found in the field of manufacturing seats or seat covers, which would deal with all sources of discomfort to the seat user.
Another problem encountered in connection with seat covers is that the user may either stick to the cover or slip on it, depending on the material of the cover and the way the user is dressed, especially when moisture, such as perspiration, is permitted to reach the seat cover. Of course, such a problem also exists when no seat cover is used, this time in connection with the seat proper. This, of course, is also very disadvantageous, especially since the body of the user may be either hampered in performing movements desired by the user, or permitted to conduct movements undesired by the user. This problem is not efficiently avoided by any heretofore known seat upholstery or seat cover materials or structures.